Sanders calls on U.S. to restore funding to UN agency linked to Hamas attacks

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is calling on the United States and its allies to restore funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), warning it risks a humanitarian disaster in Gaza.

The Biden administration froze aid after Israeli allegations, deemed credible by the U.S., that a dozen of the agency’s workers participated in the Oct. 7 attack on Israeli civilians.

Sanders, an outspoken critic of Israel’s invasion of Gaza and blockade of humanitarian supplies, said the allegations need to be investigated and repeated his condemnation of Hamas but argued that the U.N. must be allowed to deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians.

He noted that more than 26,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war and that 70 percent of them are women and children, and that UNRWA has more than 10,000 workers.

“Today, hundreds of thousands of children face starvation and disease. Obviously, it’s not acceptable for any of the 13,000 UNRWA employees in Gaza to be involved with Hamas, and allegations against the 12 people charged must be investigated. However, we cannot allow millions to suffer because of the actions of 12 people,” Sanders said in a statement.  

“The U.S. and other countries must restore funding to stave off this humanitarian catastrophe,” he said.

His office noted that the decision to freeze funding for UNRWA would curtail access to food, water and essential services to Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, including 1.1 million people who are at risk for starvation.

Israeli intelligence officials say seven UNRWA staff members invaded Israeli territory during the Oct. 7 attack, and two participated in kidnappings.

The U.N. has fired nine of the 12 staff workers accused of collaborating with Hamas. One of the workers identified in the allegations is dead.

Sanders earlier this month forced the Senate to vote on a resolution requiring the State Department to provide a report within 30 days on any human rights violations committed during the invasion of Gaza. Under that proposal, if the State Department failed to meet the deadline, assistance to Israel would have been frozen.

Only 11 senators voted to advance that resolution.

Sanders has denounced Israel’s denial of food, water and other essentials to people in Gaza a “serious violation of international law.”